Quality Training Combats Deconditioning
by Troy Jacobson
Most age group triathletes juggle the demands of family and work with their multisport training and racing. Often times, 'life' gets in the way of your training and, upon careful review of your weekly training log, you realize that you committed less time to exercising than planned. Or even worse, you get injured and are forced to take time off over an extended period.For the conditioned multisport athlete, a week or two won't adversely impact your fitness. In fact, the truth is that many athletes find that the unplanned rest gives them some 'snap' back in their legs and can improve the overall quality of their training. This same effect is experienced after a well planned taper for a key event. However, if the pattern of detraining (also known as deconditioning) continues for three weeks or more, there can be a noted decline in your fitness and overall performance. An often cited study conducted by Martin, Coyle et Al (Effects of Deconditioning after Intense Endurance Training on Left Ventricular Dimensions and Stroke Volume) on six highly trained endurance athletes demonstrated as much as a 20% decrease in V02max after 8 weeks of inactivity with no further decline after 12 weeks. Therefore, deconditioning is a rapid process for even the most experienced athlete. The good news is that the more conditioned you are, the slower the rate of decline, should you be forced to take time off. In other words, the more miles you have in your legs over many years, the easier it is to maintain and even regain your level of conditioning prior to a period of downtime. This is one reason that developing an extensive 'base' is so important. While this is good news for many, the key is reduce or eliminate the opportunity for significant deconditioning as much as possible. Fortunately, research shows that by maintaining a high intensity component in your training program (70% or more of your VO2max), you can dramatically reduce your training volume yet still maintain fitness. As a practical matter, this means that the old adage, 'quality trumps quantity', takes center stage. So, when you don't have time to do a 15 hour week of training including your long 3-4 hour ride and 90 minute run on the weekend, opt for short, faster workouts including several hard repetitions at 70-90% of your V02max. An example might be a 40 minute bike ride, preferably on the trainer, including a 10-15 minute warm-up followed by 6-8 x 1 minute hard tempo intervals @ 1 min rest then a 10-15 minute cooldown. The bottom line is, 'if you don't use it, you'll lose it'. Reduce your risk of losing it by staying healthy and whenever necessary, choose quality over quantity.
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